Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c14.26

c14.26

Reference may be made here to a phase of art development, based on the type of architecture which evolved during the first millennium, and which concerned a region having as its centre the ancient Mathura (Muttra), a city on the right bank of the Jumna. Subsequent cataclysms have however destroyed almost completely the many buildings, Buddhist and Brahmanical, which at different times proclaimed the flourishing state of both these religions in this part of the country, so that only the barest fragments have survived as a record of their architectural greatness. Of the examples illustrating this movement it is hardly possible to form an opinion, but from the sculptures embellishing these stupas and the temples sufficient remains have come to light to indicate its character and effect. From these relics it has been found that the schools of the Mathura period had great influence on the arts of many parts of India as a whole and it also becomes evident that the buildings, of which numerous specimens of carvings are the only existing record, had a similar influence on the styles of architecture which prevailed for a long period on the Gangetic plain, and even far beyond.